


i know you (i met with you once upon a dream)

by OceanSpray5



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: A little Lumax mention too, F/M, Gen, The Holly and Mike siblingship we all deserve is there too, The Mileven Cinderella AU no one asked for, The whole party is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22804309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanSpray5/pseuds/OceanSpray5
Summary: His Royal Highness, Prince Michael Theodore Wheeler, was going to absolutely kill his sister as soon as she got back from her over-extended honeymoon. Plotting ways to get under her skin, in only the way younger siblings know how, was what was keeping him sane amid this extravagant Coming-Of-Age gala his mother had just had to throw for him despite his protests and obvious lack of social aptitude.or, the Mileven version of the Cinderella meet-cute from the original animated Cinderella.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Holly Wheeler & Mike Wheeler
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	i know you (i met with you once upon a dream)

**Author's Note:**

> "When in doubt, write a Cinderella AU", I say. Been wanting to write Mileven for months but I haven't written fanfic in over a year and was nervous about getting into these characters heads. I finally went for it. My writing's a little rusty cuz I haven't written in so long but I appreciate constructive criticism and any advice or suggestions for future fics.
> 
> I hate the title but never been good at those so it'll have to do.

His Royal Highness, Prince Michael Theodore Wheeler, was going to absolutely _kill_ his sister as soon as she got back from her over-extended honeymoon. Plotting ways to get under her skin, in only the way younger siblings know how, was what was keeping him sane amid this extravagant gala his mother had just _had_ to throw for him despite his protests and obvious lack of social aptitude.

And really it _was_ all Nancy’s fault. One moment Mike was reading quietly in the family nook, Holly having fallen asleep in his lap while he was reading to her half an hour earlier, and the next moment his mother was sighing dramatically while collapsing on the plush velvet sofa.

Now, Mike wasn’t a bad son at all, mind you. He could see the sheen in Karen’s eyes and knew this was about Nancy again. His thoughts were only proven when Karen let out a sniffle and gave a small wail lamenting her eldest daughter’s absence. Mike sighed and set his book aside in a bid to pretend to pay attention, knowing he had no choice but to listen and comfort his mother what seemed to be the fifth time this month. It was a good thing he had gotten used to zoning out while pretending he was listening. It didn’t really matter if he listened since his mother normally repeated the same spiel every single time she went down this road. Instead, Mike chose to mentally draft some more stories for his private journal or figure out the geography of their lands. It was a hobby of his that had developed as he grew older and past the point of playing pretend in the castle’s gardens with his friends.

“She could write more often, you know!” Karen sounded affronted. Her sharp tone jolted Mike out of his thoughts. “Twenty years I raise her and now she’s married and Jonathan is a _lovely boy_ but they could make a trip home now and then in between their travels.”

Mike simply nodded in a placating manner, pretending he had been listening all along. He could count down the seconds until his Mom would start complaining about his dad too. 

“And Ted is of no use. He barely has interest in the country’s affairs anymore.”

Mike couldn’t stop a short dry smile from sliding across his face.

“Like clockwork,” he muttered under his breath. Luckily his mother was too preoccupied to hear.

“I know I’m the Queen but he could at least be more attentive during council meetings when he’s home. Every other week it’s another ‘diplomatic trip’ with his friends and when he returns, he decides he’s too tired to do anything but _sleep,_ ” Karen continued, not even paying attention to whether her son was listening or not.

“And my baby Holly! I don’t even get to spend time with her anymore Micheal! _You’re_ reading her bedtime stories now instead of me!” Karen’s distress was mounting so Mike decided it would be wiser not to mention that Holly came to him for stories only because she thought he did the voices better and that Holly did still go to Karen for most of her girlier hobbies since Mike was apparently “no good” at humoring her in those, despite his best attempts.

“You know what?” Karen fixed her son with a piercing stare. Mike gulped. He knew that meant nothing good for him. “We should throw your coming of age ball. It’s about time you find yourself a wife Michael and then Ted and I can step down from our thrones. I could use a break of my own. With Nancy relinquishing her title indefinitely you’re the heir to the throne now.”

Hearing her words Mike was filled with dread. He had been keeping his head down low trying to avoid _this exact topic_ for months since Nancy had gone off. All in vain it seemed. His protest was at the tip of his tongue but his mother silenced his outburst with a glare.

“ _Don’t_ look at me like that Michael!”

“But _mom_! I don-”

“ITS FINAL!” Karen boomed. Her tone left no room for argument. Her distress was long gone and in its place was a simmering rage. It would be fruitless to argue with her now. Mike hadn’t inherited his stubbornness from his father, after all.

So, with a hard scowl Mike slammed his book on the table to make emphasize his displeasure. He got up, making sure not to jostle Holly, with the intention of setting her in her bed still asleep as he usually did, and left the room without another word to his mother, but not before slamming the door loudly behind him.

He’d feel worse fighting with his already upset mother but Mike absolutely hated it when she refused to give him any choice in the matters of his own life. In moments like these Mike both loathed and admired Nancy. He knew she hadn’t had it easy fighting to get her way either but at least she had been humored more. Ever since she had left, relinquishing her title and claim to the throne indefinitely, Karen had become more and more crabby with the added burden of Nancy’s share of royal affairs on her shoulders.

_‘So really’_ , Mike reasoned to himself, _‘this chain of events is all really Nancy’s fault.’_

Oh! How he was going to curse her out in his next letter. He already had in his previous ones… not that it made a difference. The post he had gotten in reply barely held any remorse, filled to the brim instead, with Nancy’s dry amusement and a general advice to let their mother do whatever she wanted. Not even a word of comfort or sympathy! Mike could imagine her laughing while reading his angry letters while she was off seeing sights he only imagined and wrote in his journals.

Mike’s scowl deepened as the next ladies of the court were announced. Oh, how he hated social events especially when they centered around him. He could see his mother glaring at him from his peripheral every time he met with a lady and her parents, giving them a simple bow and a curt hello, not even making the effort to offer a smile.

His best and oldest friend, Lucas, eventually chuckled.

“Hoping to woo the ladies with that charming scowl of yours, Michael? Or is it the sulky attitude. Max told me all the women in town are swooning over the broody new hero in the newspaper’s short story column. Not trying to get inspiration there, are we?”

Mike’s heated glare turned on his best friend but Lucas only burst out laughing.

“This isn’t funny Lucas!”

“Um, I think it is.” Lucas snickered.

“For you? Maybe! Your mother isn’t expecting you to find her daughter in law in this crowd.”

“Nawww, for real?” Lucas drawled mockingly. “Having a girlfriend gives you those perks Mikey. Should have thought of that before refusing to meet any of the princesses who wanted to court you. At least your Mom would have thought you were trying. This is retribution. You get to meet all of em at once!”

Mike just groaned.

“How many more hours of this torture? I’m tired!” As if to prove his point he had to quickly raise his hand to muffle a yawn. Mike could feel his mother’s glare burning holes in him due to his unethical behavior. If looks could kill, Holly would already be in line for the throne at 6 years of age.

Lucas simply clapped Mike on the shoulder in sympathy.

“Sorry dude. As much as I’d love to help ya, my lovely Lady Maxine is waiting for me and I kinda wanna ask her to dance before the night is through. Don’t worry though, I’ll send Will over to babysit His Royal Highness so none of the big bad harpies get to him.”

Mike rolled his eyes.

“Go!” He half shoved Lucas with a fond grin. “Say Hi to _Lady Maxine_ for me. Oh! And tell Dustin to STOP with that annoying purring in between lyrics. Literally no one would be attracted to that and its starting to get on my nerves.”

Lucas guffawed as he went off to find Max in the crowd. Mike just sighed, the crown on his head feeling heavier by each passing minute. Deciding to dance with two princesses to appease his mother before calling it a night, he searched the crowd for anyone he felt he could stand for more than two seconds. So far everyone in the crowd seemed to be loud and obnoxious and while Mike knew there would be nice people among the pool of ladies come to court him, he had exhausted his quota for social interaction for the day and couldn’t stomach the idea of being with anyone talkative for a whole dance.

He had just about given up finding anyone worth his energy, deciding to face his mother’s wrath rather than try to tamp down his anxiety on the dance floor, until he noticed a beautiful girl who was standing at the very back of the room, near the drapes by the stairwell.

‘ _A late arrival?_ ’ Mike wondered. It certainly was odd for anyone to be arriving after almost half the ball was over but he was certain this girl hadn’t come up to introduce herself.

She had no escort and seemed nervous and overwhelmed which wasn’t unlike how Mike was feeling. She was looking around the room as if in search of place or meaning among these people and, despite having grown up in this castle and knowing every nook and cranny, Mike deeply related to her anxious energy.

In the next moment her gaze landed on him and Mike gasped.

“ _Pretty_ ,” his traitorous heart whispered as it sped up and his brows furrowed in confusion because even from across the room, he felt an unknown pull drawing him to this girl. She seemed to have tensed up, just like him, as soon as their eyes met.

Mike didn’t know what it was that attracted him to her. Maybe it was the fact that she looked lonely just like him, maybe it was because she was the only girl currently NOT surrounded by at least two others, ready to giggle and squeal if he approached her for a dance or maybe… just maybe… it was something more. Something that existed only in his books and journal entries.

So, to everyone’s surprise, Karen’s _immense_ relief and the mystery girl’s terror, Mike cut his way across the room making a beeline straight for her.

The girl was even more stunning up close. Her eyes dusted a powder pink to match the simple pink beading and sash on her gown. She looked scared, unsure of why he had approached her.

“You look beautiful.” Mike blurted out before he could stop himself. It wasn’t untrue and it seemed it was the right thing to say because the girl gave a shy smile, the fear in her eyes giving way to something softer. Her posture was still stiff but Mike could see she was beginning to let her guard down.

“My name’s Mike, short for Michael,” he introduced himself. To his relief and slight surprise, the girl didn’t at all seemed perturbed the Prince was talking to her.

“Eleven,” she whispered in return. She had a slight frown when she said it though, clearly unhappy with it.

“Eleven? That’s your name?” The girl only nodded. The frown still on her face.

Having the full name ‘Michael Theodore,’ Mike could understand the embarrassment of having an awful name. He had a sudden urge to get rid of her distress though. As much as Mike had hated the ball himself until that point, he knew he absolutely had to make sure this girl enjoyed it and he knew he had to start by making her comfortable with her own name.

“How about we call you El? Short for Eleven?” Mike offered gently. The girl seemed to think it over for a moment and then nodded. A beautiful smile broke out on her face again, still shy but undeniably happy. Mike knew he would do anything to make sure it always stayed there.

Noticing his mother and the majority attendees’ curious eyes still on them, Mike turned to El and held out his hand.

“Do you want to dance?”

El looked nervously at the large crowd.

“I…I don’t know how.” She looked almost scared as if she didn’t want to disappoint him. Mike didn’t realize why she would think such a silly thing. He just knew she could never disappoint him.

“That’s OK,” Mike reassured her. “I’ve been taking lessons my whole life but still don’t know how. Want to figure it out together?”

Seeing his open and honest expression, El finally relaxed. She took his hand; eyes trusting and smile still soft as he led her to the middle of the ballroom floor. Mouth wide open, Dustin absentmindedly cued the orchestra for a slow dance, the previous occupants quickly vacating it. _Everyone_ was curious, given it was the Prince’s first dance all evening apart from the one he had shared with his little sister.

Everyone’s eyes were on them. The attendees scrutinized El and everything about her from her hair to her dress. Karen just looked relieved her son had finally attempted to dance with someone and but was shockingly delighted with her son’s pick in partner. Little Holly’s eyes sparkled in awe at the pretty princess her brother had taken to the dance floor; to her it was a fairy-tale come to life. Lucas, Max, Will and Dustin shared a look, all shocked but semi-pleased that Mike had finally chosen someone to dance with… even if it was someone who they had never seen before.

But Mike’s eyes were only on El and El’s eyes were only on him.

Everything around them faded until they were only lost in each other. An unspoken connection holding them together across time and space creating in them an understanding only they shared.

_“I know you,”_ their souls whispered. _“You’re finally here.”_

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is the same as my ao3 and you can find me on Twitter @IffahAMughal so come say hi! 
> 
> I will love you forever if you review since they motivate me more than anything else. 
> 
> And feel free to leave me suggestions of what more Mileven fics you all would like to read cuz while I have a lot of ideas, none of them are settling down enough for me to get a solid bit of writing out of them for now.


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